DDII Disassembling Confusion

I recently bought the used DDII body with L-bust from the auction in this post: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1242&start=10

It was practical for me to buy with Montreal and Ottawa being so close.

 

Despite the seller's comments I've found most of the joints to be pretty stiff aside from the neck joint which just flops around anywhere. I'd like to take a closer look at what's wrong with the neck joint. I've tried taking apart the upper body but haven't been too successful. My only reference is the DDIII body so I'm a bit confused by the inside of this dollfie. Here are a couple of photos.

 

DSCN1347 by TierenDD, on Flickr

DSCN1348 by TierenDD, on Flickr

 

Is it normal for there to be two layers on top of the skeleton? At first I thought someone had heat-shrunk one upper body onto another but on closer inspection it's not a full body piece. If I go at this some more with the hair dryer should I be able to get this apart? It doesn't seem like I'll be able to remove the skeleton without also removing the inner skin layer.

That's normal. The DDII body has a sort of "ribcage" under the bust piece.

 

As far as I know, you heat up the outer bust vinyl to loosen it, take it off the ribcage, and then take the ribcage off. If I recall correctly, there should be screws on the ribcage somewhere so you can get inside it. Hopefully someone who's had to get that deep inside can elaborate.

 

EDIT: Found a tutorial specifically on getting the neck joint apart: http://www.wolfheinrich.com/2011/05/29/dollfie-dream-neck-joint-replacement/

 

In this case he's replacing the entire neck joint, but that shows you to some extent how it's put together.

Edited June 14, 2012 by Guest

Maybe this would be of some help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAmAG-VwwKM

Wow @ how fast I got some responses. Thanks!

 

I got the chest piece off and the neck joint spring has definitely seen better days. I'll probably order a replacement in the near future.